Sound-producing reed



iJan. 5v 1926.

l.. J. GRUBMAN SOUND PRODUCING REED Fiied Nov. 15, 1923 715145. .auvll m4 ATTORNEY channel degree o NEWARK, NEW"JE BSEY, A

i SOUND-PROD Application llledA November To all whom' it may consom.'

Beit known that I, Lao J. GRUBMAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city, county, and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Im, provements in Sound-Producing Reeds, of which the followin is a specification.

This invention re atesto sound producing reeds and broadly considered, com rehends 'a reed more particularly designe for use in articulating sound lproducing devices fon toys which is of su stantial constructlon and not likely to et out of order and will alsolproduce sound in constant volume and itc t P It has heretofore been quite a diicult matter to produce -such sounding reedsof standard uniform construction with positive assurance that each reed inthe assage of air under ressure therethrough will emit identically the same volume of sound in the same key or pitch. .a These vices usually consisted of a channe member havin a vibratory metal tonguel secured over t e o en side of the channel. In some cases, the ree endY of the tongue is curved away from the ingress end of the channel and in others the side walls of the at its ingress end are curved to extend in divergent relation to'the free4 end .of the ntongue. Also the clamping or securing means for themetal tonglQ/tohold the same in a fixed osition, in .some cases, has a distorting e ect upon the tongue.' `Where the free end of the tongue is curved, it is not ossible to obtain exactl the same. curvature in eve evice and, therefore, rthe tone pitch o rior .de-

ed body sound will differ in the different feeds.

1 n this caseal@ an channel member.

The channel members are formed in a die and the opposite edges of the channel after trimming are rough and uneven so that when a. straight metal tongue' is emplo ed there vwill be a. leakage of air. f

wing to the curvature of the ingress endossible to evenly plane down these rough e ges and therefore improper sound will be produced. Further, 'in these prior art devices, no revision is madefor preventing the angular movement of the vibratory tongue out o'f parallel relation with the` of the channel, it is not Itis the object and purposeof my -present retain the reed the emitted PATE-NT .ol-Fica assIGNoa ro verona, moonrona'rnn, or

conronarron or DELAWARE.

UCING REED.

metal tongue is held the same spaced Are ation to the ingress end f 4of the air channel so that in every device Eeclsely the\ same degree of vibration will imparted to the "tongue and, therefore, exactly the same volume and tone pitchof sound will be produced.

4V1t is also another object of my invention to provide an improved means for mounts ing the sounding reed in an opening or passage wlthout employing mechanical fastemng elements to ositive'lyplix the .reed support 1n place an which will properly in ap lied position `without .danger of casual disp acement, and yet admit .of' the easy and' uick removal of the reed and 'its support om said opening or passage. J Je vW1 tl the above and other objects in view, the lnvntion consists .in the improved sounding reed and in theform, construction mentof its several arts Vjoined claims.

In the drawings wherein I have illus- 'trated one simple and .practical embodiment -of the 'invention and 1n which'similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views: j Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved. reedshowing the same mounted in its support;

.Figure 2 is an edge view thereof;- Flgure 3 is a transverse section taken on theline 3+-3'of .Figure 1;

incorporated 1n the'su Figure 4 is a detailelevation vof the vi; i

bratorymetal tongue;

4 Figure 5 is a. view of ,a tubular sound i emission member partly in section showv my lmproved reed mounted therein;

ing

showing the manner of mounting thereed 'in an air expelling member of l. sound produc'. device;

T and 8 are ldetail views illu Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional viewl I 4'of ma -ng such soundmg reeds;

i the novel features of i i producing reed of my tratin two examples gf prior art methods re 9 is \an end elevation showing the old construction illustrated' in Figure7 Figure 10 is a. detail transverse section showing the manner in which the vibratory metal tongue of the prior art devices is Figu distorted in themounting of the reed; and

Figure 11 is a detail 'view illustrating another objectionable feature of the prior art constructions.

lin the present disclosure, I have selected for purposes of illustration an embodiment of the sound producing reedwhich is more particularly designedfor ,use in connection with various devices adapted to be incorporated' in the body of a' doll or other toy figure foi-the purpose of emitting a characteristic articulated cryr Among other articles of this character which`I have devised and disclosed in various* co-pending patent applications, reference may be 'had to the application filed by me on December 20th, 1922, Serial No. 607,931. However, it will be manifest as this description proceeds that in so far as the subject matter of are concerned, the sound improved vconstruction is of more or less general application and may be employed in vconnection with this application numerous other devices or wind instruments ures 1 to -6 inclusive differing widely in structure and the particular purpose for which they may be de- 'Referring now more particularly to Figof the drawings, I have illustrated the body of the reed as consisting of an elongated 'semi-cylindrical member 5.`l

from metal or other of semicircular cross-sectional shape to provide ay longitudinally extendingchannel 6. The side edges of this channeled body member are outwardly iianged as at 7. The body wall. of` the memberl at the ingress end of the channel 6 is rounded. or convex as-at- 8 and theside flanges 7 .are integrally Aconnected and extend around this end ofthe member 5 in concentric relation thereto.

Upon the edges1of tlieflanges 47 from the opposite or ingress end of the channel 6 to This member is formed a point intermediate the'ends of the memiopposite' flanged edges theg-perside vof the clifalri'n'elv 6 are 5.5 ber 5,the longitudinally extending shoulders .9 are formed. From the inner ends of these shoulders to .the'endA 8 'of the .member 5, the inf :said 'member vat obliquely slightly as at ,16 :thereby graduallt reasing t e'f tion-ofAY @channel r- The {vihratory sound element Q premisa le metal.

of the reed consists of a'thiniiiexi platev 11 substantially 'eq 5 having a relaas an example thereof,

valent in length Vto thelength of the member tively widey portion 12 which, as shown in Figure 3 of the drawings, is seated upon the flanges 7 between the shoulders 9 thereof. The remaining portion 13 of-said flexible metal plate normally extends in r parallel relation with'the axis of the channel 6 beyond the. inner ends ofthe shoulders 9 andover the open side of the ingress end-of the chana'llyincreasing V 1n area said tongue. Y

As shown in Figure 3, the shoulders 9 are of appreciably greater height than the thickness of the metal plate 12 and upon the opemng for the en-n wider portion of said plate, a strip of fibre,

metal or other pressure resisting material 111 is adapted to be arranged between said shoulders.`

Preferably, as a means of support for. 'the reed, I provide a cylindrical collar or plug 15 of cork or other compressible resilient material. This plug is provided with an appropriately shaped opening therein to re'- ceive the assembled parts of the sounding reed, said reed preferably being arranged in the collar or plug with an equal portion thereof projecting from opposite sides of saidcollar, though this is not essential. If A desired, the reed may be positioned in the plug at any point 'along the length .of the shoulders 9.-

In the use of the compressible or resilient collar or plug 15, the fibre or metal stri `subserves a very important purpose. us

- as shown 1n' Figure 5 of the drawings, if the deviceis to ber arranged in a. sound emitting tube'T, forced under pressure into the end of the tubel bore, the yieldable cork or other material of which the plug is composed is compressed inwardly upon the soundin reed. The metal plate `of which the vi ratory sound element is formed being very thin, sucli compressing pressure thereon would Y bend'or ,distort the same, tending to force said thinb metal plate into the channel of the reed bodyas in of the drawings. `However, by interposxng ing material 1.4 between the metal v thevvall of the opening through vor plug 1'5, the plate is relieved of such distorting pressure which will be resisted by late and distortionof this metallic sound vFigure 1Q of the drawings-would result in a very marked difference in the kind of sonnd produced in thevibrgtionof the free Vthe strip of reinforcing material. 1t is obvlous that v producing element to `the extent indicated in when the collar or plug is 'cated at R in Figure 10 the strip or layer of metal or other reinforcno' t e collar end Lportion or tongue of said plate from that which would be obtained if the plate is free from such distorting pressures. Therefore, itwillfbe appreciatedI that by the 'use of the reinforcing strip 14, the plate is positively held between the shoulders 9 on the body member. Accordingly, the 'full force and effect of the air as it is forced under channe 6 upon the vibratory tongue 13 of the sounding element is secured and the greatest possible volume of sound may thus be produced from sure. l v

In the instance shown in Figure-5 of the drawings wherein the plug or support r15 for the sound producing reed is arranged within the tube and adjacent one end thereof, the other end of said tube is closed by-means of a plug P. If after testing the device, it should be found that due to some-fault in `the detail parts of the reed structure,'the

proper sound is not produced, the device may be readily removedwithout injury to the parts of the plug P and inserting a suitable implement into the tube and exerting a pressure upon the vcollar 15 thereby forcing said plug with the reed from the open end of the tube. It is possible that this structural fault may be readily corrected, so that the reed may be again inserted within the end of the tube and used.

In Figure 6 of the drawings I have 'shown'v the improved reed with the resilient or compress1ble supportlng collar therefor mounted in an opening O provided in a movable, air

expelling head or piston H as .employed in p' certain of the devices vshown'in my co-pending applications. In this `instance,lthe sound is emitted from the reed into a'so'und receivingchamber C in said head, the open side of said chamber being closed by a suitable plate having an opening therein in line with the opening O. Thus in this case likewisedt will be understood that the plug 15 in which the sounding reed is mouped may be readily removed from the heilig; when it isnecessa `'to' repair the re .or replace the same wit a new one. It will be manifest from the foregoing description that by reason of the construction and correlation of the body Vmember 5 and the sounding elementv 11 ofthe reed andthe means which I employ for supporting and retaining said parts in their proper co-operative positions, perfect uniformis in so "the production of -sound may be obtain that the quantity production of isuch devices with the assurance that there wlll` be no agg preciabl'e audible distinction between soun reduced by anyr two of such devices may erealized; 4This is due to the fac`tythat the sound producing `element of the reed isre-` lieved oftall 'pressures and -the `graduation or pressure into the ingress end of the theavailable air presthe-reed by simply removing been found that such .wrappin operation 'with uncertain resu ts. y 'ingly, it will be appreciated that the vvibrato tongue 13 thereof is vstraight or e at the Sametime the .pro er increase of space between t is v bratory tongue and the open `side of the a r channel in the reed member 5 is produced 70 bycurving or inclinin the opposed open side of said channeled ody member in divergent relation to the tongue.

Asshown in Figure 7 of the drawin s, it has heretofore been attempted vto provide a reed of this ch'afracter with a straight or uncurved vibrating tongue. In forming the' channel member, however, when the side edges thereof are trimmed, upstanding burrs remain thereon as indicated at B so that the tongue A does not properly seat on the edges of said channel member as shown in Figsf 7 and 9 ,and there is an escape of the air fromysaid channel around the edges of the tongue substantially over the entire length of the latter.- Thus ins'uch a construction, proper vibration of the tongue is not obtained and relatively weak and uncertain sound is produced. 'In my present construction, however, it will be noted that the vibrating tongue 18 is spaced at its marginal edges from the marginal edges of the corresponding end portion vof the channeled member 5 so that even though the' edges of the latter member may be rough or uneven, there Will be no contact of the vibrating tongue therewith. The metal sound' producing element is stamped out in predetermined form, v and 'preferabl the vibrating tongue 13 on uncurve Awhl Aone end' thereof is appreciably narrower 100, than the remaining portion of said element `which is seated upon the flanges 7 of the Y wider portion 12 of the sounding element.

l As seen in Figure 8 ofthe drawings, where he vibratory end of the tongue'is curved so as to diverge away from the open side of the channel at its egress end, it .has heretofore been-the practice to secure said tongue A over the open side of the channel by close- 'ly ,wrappin' a thread D aroundthe channel member and` said tongue. However, it has is a' costl Accor shoulders 9 as provided in my improved con- Y struction are quite important and very eff -fective to preventangular displacement yof la the metal sounding elenent so that it is alwa s retained in accurate parallel relation wit the axis ofthe reed member 5. Without the provision of -said shoulders, the metallicsounding element both when the wrapthread D is employed or when .the

r' Y rel is mounted in a compressible 'collar or .ing sound of duced, and` 1n some plug, is quite likely toV gradually assume such anangular position with relation to the body member ofthe reed as I have indicated in Fig. 11 of the drawings, so that a squeaksmall .volume would be proinstances the device m' ht entirely fail to function. y

rdm the foregoing description considyered connection with the accompanying c ings, it is believed that the several novel be apparent that in adaptn ment as well as the ciated. Owin possible to very vrapidly assemble the several elements of the reed. I have described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, a structural embodiment of' the device which Ihave found `to give :highly satisfactory results in practice. Nev rthelessit will my present invention to various uses to w cable, to certain mechanical it may be found desirable to re ort changes in the detail structural parts thereof, and therefore, re-

Y opening upon one serve the privilege of adopting all such legitimate changes in the form, construction l and relative arrangement of the several elements as may be fairly considered within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed..

I claim: A

l. A reed comprising a body ing a longitudinally extending air channel side thereof and provided shonlders at opposite edges of with angular a vibratory sound -producing said channel, element having a part positioned over sai channel between said shoulders and 'another relatively yieldable vibrating part project ing longitudinally over the ingress end of the air channel beyond said shoulders, a pressure resisting material engaged upon v`the first named part cf said sound producing ele'- ment and also positioned between said shoulders, and asupport or the reedcoact-V mg with said pressure resisting materialand holding said material and the sound p ro'duo- Aslv zch it is ap l1- member hav-A `the ingress en ing element against longitudinal movement with respect to the reed body.

2. A reed comprising a body member having a longitudinally extending air channel opening upon one side thereof and laterally projecting flanges extending along the opposite edges of said channel, sai-d anges being providedwith angular shoulders extending from the egress end of the air channel tc points substantially midway of the length of said body member, a vibratory sound producing element overlying said flanges and having a relatively wide part positioned between said shoulders, said element having a relatively narrow vibrating tongue at one end projectin beyond said shoulders over the ingress en of the air channel, a support through which the reed body is positioned, and a member .arranged between said shoulders of the lreed body upon the wider part of said sound producing element and interposed between said support and said element to prevent distortion o the latter and hold saidelement against longitudinal shifting movement relative to the reed body.

l3. A reed comprising a body member having a longitudinally extending air channel opening upon one side projectlng flanges extending along the opposite'edges of said channel, said flanges being provided with angular yshdnlders extending from the egress end of the air channel to points substantially midway of the length of said bod member, a vibratory sound producing /e ement overlying said iianges and having a relatively wide part positioned between said shoulders, a relatively narrow vibrating tongue at yone end projectin beyond said shoulders over of the airchannel, a support an opening of compressible material havingi d d a apte to therein to receive the reed an surroundv the intermediate portion of the 1 d 'reed body, and a non-compressible member also positioned between said shoulders. of the reed body upon said soundproducing element and receiving the ressurei of said support to prevent distortion of the sound producing element and longitudinal movement thereof relative tothe body.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as vmy invention, I have signed my name -here- 'Lao J.y GRUBMAN.

under.

thereof and laterally i said element having Y shifting 

